Temptations

There are two days of the year where Catholics have to "fast and abstain", Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. This basically means that any practicing Catholic over the age of 18 is allowed only one meal and it must be meatless.

On Wednesdays (and Mondays) I have three back-to-back classes. I usually bring a plethora of snacks and a Vanilla Latte to keep me awake and alert during the monotonous lectures. Having given up caffeine products for Lent I was already dragging before classes began on Ash Wednesday. And I was starving.

The first class went okay. But, OMG, it is absolutely impossible to stay alert during my music appreciation class without caffeine. My poor teacher, he doesn't have a friggin' clue how to teach. Picture The Chicken Man, Al, from Toy Story Two, with 90% less enthusiasm. I'm shaving years off my stint in purgatory by taking this class. We are still learning about the Baroque era. I've realized that Bach is a freaking genius and what not but I'm dying in this class. I can't take another lesson on the sounds of the harpsichord. On Ash Wednesday we watched three movies on the Sinfonia, aria/recitative, and the Passacaglia. UGH! :0

While digging through my backpack during the first movie I discovered a Coffee Bar. Caffeine and food combined into a delicious granola bar. My mind began racing. I was starving, bored out of my mind. I immediately buried it under some books. But my poor, weak mind was turning against me. I began justifying my utter need to consume it. This stupid bar wouldn't leave my mind. I could taste the sweet, savory morsels. I began to obsess. Surly, God wouldn't mind if I just ate a bit or two. I am allowed two small meals or one main meal. Does a coffee bar count as a small meal? Mmmmmm, I literally couldn't think of anything other than ferociously consuming every last bite of it this very moment. I mustered up every ounce of of will power inside me and somehow made it through the stinking class. By now I was beyond starving, I was freaking famished.

Lit class was less than exciting. By this time I was nearing hour five of back-to-back lectures. I hadn't eaten or drunken anything other than water since dinner the night before. Man, my will power was waning big time. My water bottle was no longer sustaining me. I began to feel weak, faint. My mind, again, told me to eat the damn bar. For goodness sake girl, it would be dangerous to drive home in your condition. Eat it.

I made it. I didn't eat a darn thing until dinner. That was the best tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich ever.

Thank goodness I won't have that embarrassing conversation at the pearly gates with St. Peter, "You lived a pretty good life but I can't let you in. On Ash Wednesday 2007 you at a Coffee Bar. Shame on you..."